Feet

Our feet are pretty amazing. They’re often forgotten since we put shoes on them and we worry about how the shoes fit, feel, look, perform and miss the point of checking in to see how our feet are doing. Specifically, I want to create an awareness of what they’re doing while we’re training.

When you squat, do they turn out? When you deadlift do they collapse? Does your heel lift up when doing a reverse lunge? Taking it further, what about when you jump or land or cut? Do your feet stay stable and straight or turn out and collapse?

There’s a lot of little muscles down there that effect how stable we are and how we create tension to perform a movement. The more we see feet morning around, not only do we think you’re leaking power. But you’re also increasing risk of injury. A few days back we talked about stacking joints. Keeping your feet where we want them is a form of this. If my toes turn out when I squat, my knees are more likely to fall in towards each other. Losing that stacked position of knee over ankle.

Next time your training, standing at the sink doing dishes or walking, take a look (but don’t stare) at your feet and see how they’re doing. Are you controlling them or are they dictating you?

Justin Miner

@portsmouthcoach